NEW YORK — The St. Joseph's College (Brooklyn) women's basketball team has been picked to place third in the Skyline Conference, their highest preseason ranking in any sport since joining the conference in the 2015-16 season. The Bears finish tied for third, collected 56 points, including one first-place vote, in the preseason poll voted on by the league's 10 head coaches.

The Bears finished in sixth place last season with a 9-9 league mark ending their season with a first-round loss to Farmingdale State College in the Skyline Championship, their second appearance in the Skyline postseason tournament.

The Bears return five starters from one year ago, including the duo of senior Victoria Porcasi (Franklin Square, N.Y./H. Frank Carey) and reigning Rookie of the Year and All-Skyline second-team selection, Kelly O'Donnell (Brooklyn, N.Y./St. Edmunds) who combined to score 35.4 points a game last season and averaged nearly five three-pointers a game.

Other key players returning are sophomore Deserae Sequeira (Clark, N.J./Arthur L. Johnson), who led the team in assists per game (3.2), senior Caitlyn Staab (Lynbrook, N.Y./Kellenberg) who averaged 6.4 points per game, and junior Lauren Quesada (Westbury, N.Y./St. Francis Prep), who averaged 10.3 points and 7.8 boards per game as a freshman, and looks poised to make a comeback after suffering a season-ending knee injury two games into her sophomore campaign.

The Bears open their 2018-19 campaign on the road tomorrow (Nov. 8) taking on the College of Staten Island at 5:30 p.m.